Country Life 1897-1997: The English Arcadia

by Roy Strong

For 100 years, "Country Life" magazine has presented an image of rural life in Britain for readers at home and abroad. To celebrate the centenary, this book offers an analysis of the magazine's changing role over the years, from the "Arcadian" era before World War I, through the changes wrought by governments and by social movements, to the countryside of today - a more democratic but perhaps less idyllic place. Intended as a microcosm of the magazine itself, the book covers topics from architecture to land ownership, and from the rural poor to the landed gentry.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Sir Roy Colin Strong FRSL (23 August 1935 - ) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer.

He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was knighted in 1983.

Reviews

[Meredith]

I thought this would be a typical centennial pat on the back coffee table. I was wrong. It is scathing. And it has beautiful pictures of fancy things! If I were a book, this would be it.

[Eke]

this was quite ok, too! idk what else to say about a coffee table-type book about British country houses lol